CVE-2016-0725 — moodle/moodle
MEDIUMCVE-2016-0725 is a medium-severity (CVSS 6.1) Cross-site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in moodle/moodle. A fix is available for moodle/moodle — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Moodle Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in course management search
EPSS Exploitation Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2016-0725 plotted by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). The shaded corner — EPSS 50%+ and CVSS 7.0+ — is where this CVE doesn't sit, though severity or exploitability alone can still warrant action.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 377,166 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
Real-World Exposure
moodle/moodle🐘moodle/moodle🐘moodle/moodleReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Packagist packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the search_pagination function in course/classes/management_renderer.php in Moodle 2.8.x before 2.8.10, 2.9.x before 2.9.4, and 3.0.x before 3.0.2 allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via a crafted search string.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐘Packagist | moodle/moodle | ≥ 2.8&&< 2.8.10 | 2.8.10composer require moodle/moodle:^2.8.10 |
| 🐘Packagist | moodle/moodle | ≥ 2.9&&< 2.9.4 | 2.9.4composer require moodle/moodle:^2.9.4 |
| 🐘Packagist | moodle/moodle | ≥ 3.0&&< 3.0.2 | 3.0.2composer require moodle/moodle:^3.0.2 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for moodle/moodle, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update moodle/moodle to 2.8.10 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2016-0725 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like CVE-2016-0725 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2016-0725. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2016-0725 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2016-0725 across Packagist dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.